A bit of history.

Well I have to say that when I started this challenge I had no idea what God was wanting out of it all. I figured that I would have fun, learn a little more about horses and maybe get a few new clients. I have way under estimated the Lord on this one. I am telling you this today because I was talking to a friend earlier about all that has happened and how much God has done though this whole process. For almost 23 years now I have ridden horses. When I started I just wanted to have fun. It wasn't long until it turned into a business. When I was ten I started winning at the majority of my races that I entered. By the time I was in high school I was one of the top racers in the state. In 1990 I bought Star, my now 24 year old barrel horse. She was the first horse I trained. When I bought her I had never taught a horse anything. I bought Star from Sandra Jagot at Josey's when she was a 2 yr old and Martha was convinced that I would be great with her. After I bought her I stayed with Sandra and Frank for a week as she taught me the basic that it takes to train a barrel horse. Sandra had put a great handle on Star but she had not been on the pattern. From that day on I knew I loved training. Over the years I piddled with some more horses. I had a knack for it, even though Star took 4 years to fully finish. Slowly I became faster and faster at my results.
During the last 15 years I have had some outstanding wins and some really hard knocks. Unfortunately the hard knocks and what people said about them outweighed the wins. Over time it started getting to my self confidence and even though I still trained and competed well, I never felt like I was good at what I did. It's funny how a few negative people's words can last so long. My goal was to be a professional at what I did.
When God gave me the idea to try this challenge little did I know that it would heal so much of me. It is funny how God fixes in such soft ways. I was explaining to my friend today Spade has really been a huge challenge for me but I have seen patience grow in my horse training. I used to be the type that would push a horse until they were over the edge. Danial called my training sloppy and unpolished. Ouch! But he was right. I am sure that for the horses it was like talking to a drunk man with every command slurred and unclear. The slurred commands really don't work for Spade. You have to know what you want and ask for it in the clearest way you can. Thankfully he is very forgiving. And willing to wait until I get the command right. He has also taught me how to read a horse way better then I used to. He is so "vocal" with his body language.
Because of Spade and this competition I have found that I have way more confidence in my training skills and domestic horses are not near as scary as they used to be. Lol! I also got a wonderful training area out of the deal. Thanks to my dad and my husband. But more then anything I have deepened my relationship with God and in turn it has allowed me to reach out to so many people. For this I feel blessed. It is really neat to put in writing things that happen and how they make me feel and then the Holy Spirit use that to speak to someone else. This has taught me that when you are open about who God is in your life that you will make wakes no matter what you do or who you are. Many years ago I had a respected church leader try to tell me that horses where a distraction from the call of God on my life. Little did he know that God wanted to use horses as the call he had planned for me. God doesn't allow you to have a talent for nothing. He expects you to use it. I love working with my horses but I love changing people's lives with horses more. Today I had worked three horses, Spade and two clients horses. Spade didn't spook once all day. I think his walk yesterday helped. I even brushed the top of his rump. I kinda kept it slow today to build his confidence. After doing tons of friendly drills I taught him to tie. My wonderful husband installed an Aussie tie ring in my pen so Spade stood tied for at least 20 min. He would tug on the lead a little and then walk back up. But he never panicked not once. I can't tell you how fulfilling it is to see a different horse after an hour training them. But my absolute favorite is when I got to sit an chat with my husband and a few friends that came out to watch this morning. I think it is really neat to have people emotionally invested in my little project. I know it sure helps when I feel like I am getting no where. I am starting to look forward to spending time with Spade every day. He is changing slowly.